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Will same site design cause duplicate content issue

by diannalp
8 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi there,


I am helping my dad build a website for his dental practice and we are using wordpress.



We are writing each content page from scratch trying to put a little bit of voice into a topic that is really quite dry and encyclopedic. We are not done yet, but the site is up.


My dad is however unhappy with the way the site looks. I don't blame him - it looks totally homemade.


We found this beautiful wordpress theme on another dentist's website. She lives 300 miles away, so we are not serving the same geographic areas.


I want to install the theme on our site, but I was concerned that this would cause duplicate content issues. Our content overlaps with her content to the extent that we cover the same topics - we are both general dentistry websites.


And our sites are also organized in a very similar way. Because we provide nearly identical services, there is really only one logical way to organize the content into categories: general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, and children's dentistry. Each category has sub-topics.

Would having the same design template make our sites too similar? Does the design of the site affect duplicate content issues?


As I said, we are writing each of our pages from scratch trying to put a little bit of voice into each topic.. Would have the same site design be one step too far?


This is the dentist's site that we like Cristen D. Lindal, DDS


This is the wordpress theme that the design is based off of Decor Theme by StudioPress


our site now www.beststocktondentist.com
#content #design #duplicate #issue #site
  • Profile picture of the author aquabox
    As long as you don't copy her content you should be fine. Thousands of sites use the same Wordpress themes...it's the content that matters.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim3
    There is no penalty whatsoever for using the same theme as someone else.

    Duplicate content issues applies to your own site only. (as far as search engines are concerned).
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  • Profile picture of the author TheCodex
    The only time you'd see an issue is if you're using a theme that's been HEAVILY used by a penalized blog network. One case that comes to mind is Expedia was giving out a free travel blog theme with hidden backlinks in it...

    Now, that's a pretty rare occurrence and aside from that you should be fine...
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by TheCodex View Post

      The only time you'd see an issue is if you're using a theme that's been HEAVILY used by a penalized blog network. One case that comes to mind is Expedia was giving out a free travel blog theme with hidden backlinks in it...

      Now, that's a pretty rare occurrence and aside from that you should be fine...
      Your confusing an obvious link scheme (Expedia) with a CMS theme.

      *********************************

      OP, it doesn't matter If the theme is used by anyone else, as far as content, make the content unique. No big deal.

      Here's the theme your asking about: http://www.studiopress.com/themes/decor
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      • Profile picture of the author TheCodex
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        Your confusing an obvious link scheme (Expedia) with a CMS theme.

        *********************************

        OP, it doesn't matter If the theme is used by anyone else, as far as content, make the content unique. No big deal.

        Here's the theme your asking about: Decor Theme by StudioPress
        I'm not confusing anything. Expedia paid to have free travel blog themes made that had hidden links in them. So when unsuspecting people used those themes they unknowingly became part of an ad hoc blog network.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
          Originally Posted by TheCodex View Post

          I'm not confusing anything. Expedia paid to have free travel blog themes made that had hidden links in them. So when unsuspecting people used those themes they unknowingly became part of an ad hoc blog network.
          Still confused.

          99.999% of free themes, plugins etc, all have embedded links from the developer. And why shouldn't they, it is their intellectual property after all.

          No1 offender https://wordpress.org/

          Are they doing something wrong by branding "their" intellectual property with a link to their site? No
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          • Profile picture of the author TheCodex
            Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

            Still confused.

            99.999% of free themes, plugins etc, all have embedded links from the developer. And why shouldn't they, it is their intellectual property after all.

            No1 offender https://wordpress.org/

            Are they doing something wrong by branding "their" intellectual property with a link to their site? No
            I'm definitely not confused, like I said... the only time (a rare occurrence) that it can be an issue is if it's a theme that was heavily saturated by a penalized blog network.

            Getting a theme from random guy XYZ and getting a free theme from the WordPress repository are two entirely different things.

            Having done this for a decade (including speaking at WordCamp and various WP dev events) I'm pretty sure I understand the context. All I did was provide the only rare occurrence that a theme can turn into a hinderance...

            Case in point, years ago particular made for adsense themes took a huge rankings slap during a major update.

            This thread isn't going to be about me so I'm going to cease hijacking it... Thank you for flying.
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        • Profile picture of the author yukon
          Banned
          Originally Posted by TheCodex View Post

          I'm not confusing anything. Expedia paid to have free travel blog themes made that had hidden links in them. So when unsuspecting people used those themes they unknowingly became part of an ad hoc blog network.
          Your still mixing up a link scheme with the average CMS theme, they're not the same things. The average CMS theme might have a sitewide footer link but they're extremely obvious, not hidden. Has nothing to do with OPs question.
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